


Can You Keep A Secret?

by Sydlee3



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I am sorry Yamada is gross, Junko and Mukuro also go unmentioned, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secrets, Spoilers, That's Yamada's fault, There is no mention of Leon, Trans Character, canon plot divergence, child porn mention, or Sayaka, past bullying, some canon details, some not canon details, spoilers through chapter 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-03-05 09:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3115772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sydlee3/pseuds/Sydlee3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone had a secret in chapter 2. We found out the secrets of Chihiro, Mondo, Touko, and Naegi, but what about everyone else? </p>
<p>*UPDATE* CHAPTER 1 IS FIXED!!!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kiyotaka Ishimaru

**Author's Note:**

  * For [janiceprouvaire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/janiceprouvaire/gifts).



> The first chapter is Ishimaru-centric, but for a paragraph or two you go into Mondo POV. Mentions of past child abuse and bullying. I will try to update weekly/bi-weekly. I'm not doing Maizono and Leon because this is set up in chapter 2 and they're dead. Next up is Celestia!The rest of the order can be seen in the summaries. The notes at the end are sort of in order, (The first note correlates to the second the chapter, and like that etc).

**_Your Grandfather soiled your family name, while you pay the price._ **

Kiyotaka Ishimaru had no idea how this stupid bear found out his most closely guarded secret, but the kid was scared out of his wits. How did he know? Lord knows his entire family had kept it hush-hush for the longest time.

He stuffed the slip with his deepest secret into his pocket, turned, and fled the room, trying his best not to sprint off through the hallway.

The panic set in, and the small boy with the spiky black hair and piercing red eyes ran. Said hair became a tangled mess, ruffled time and time again by his fingers, and the piercing red eyes started to cloud over with memories of his home life.

He managed to make it to his door before he collapsed, sinking to his knees in a manner of utter defeat. The tears began to flow, but he didn’t feel them. He didn’t feel much of anything really. 

He knew that he was overreacting, because in all actuality it was unlikely that his darkest secret would ever be found out, but that didn’t stop the bad feeling that permeated his entire body.

All at once, the energy left him, and he just leaned his head against the back of the door.

The first time Kiyotaka hadn’t seen it coming. He was eight, for crying out loud. He didn’t expect his friend to react so strongly when he said that he wanted to be the prime minister. 

“That’s stupid! There’s no way you’ll ever get to be prime minister after what your grandpa did.”

That was the not the first time that Kiyotaka saw the implications of what his family had done, but it was far from the last, and one of the more memorable. The second time, he was his first year of middle school, and no one knew who he was. He had made sure that he was the only person from his elementary school to come here, because of how he’d been treated. 

He’d been so excited to be able to learn again, with a fresh start and people who didn’t know him well enough to judge him. 

“My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru,” he’d said, “and I look forward to learning with all of you.” No one had recognized him, and he felt so free. 

He was nominated to be a member of the disciplinary committee two weeks later, and had accepted the badge with honor. When a kid that he reported tried to beat him up behind a building after school, while he didn’t throw any punches, he didn’t take too many either. 

He had coughed blood for a bit after that, but he reported the kid again for violence. The taste of copper and salt, that reminded him an awful lot of tears, and Ishimaru had been so tired of crying. 

He was still taken out behind the school sometimes, but he would just report the kids again, and eventually people learned that it wasn’t worth it. 

But then, someone had gotten the idea to dig through his family history to find ammunition against him, and the terrible things that his grandfather did once again reared their ugly head. Kids would tease him in the hallway, ask if he was a genius too when his grade was anything less than one hundred percent. 

Kiyotaka didn’t have any friends he could go to, (nobody liked him, which was understandable given his strict nature and reputation as the number one stickler for the rules), and his family wasn’t a help, (his mother and father were almost never home because they were so busy working). It had left the poor kid with only himself. 

By the time he was in high school, he had managed to hide the bruises rather well. He used cheap makeup to hide the scratches, and the bruises around his chest were hidden by bandages. He didn’t expect now to be any different. It was hard to be friends with someone who was obligated to rat you out, and so dead set on taking the high road that he would report anyone.

No one was the wiser, until now at least. If his secret got out, his whole family’s honor would be at stake.

Kiyotaka didn’t even hear his classmate coming down the hallway until it was too late.

“Hey. Kiyotaka, is it? What’s the matter?”

The boy looked up, tears streaming down his face, and realizing that this was the first time anyone had asked him, (and also that he was crying).

“O-Owada-kun? I am fine. Nothing is the matter. You are free to continue on your way.” The words burned his throat, which was more dry than usual.

“Hey, no need to be so formal. Mondo is fine. And people don’t cry for no reason, so something is clearly “the matter” here.” The taller boy’s voice was laced with sarcasm, but also curiousity.Curiousity that Ishimaru didn’t want to sate.

“W-Well, Mondo-kun, I have sensitive tear ducts. I suppose that is all that is the matter.”

“Bullshit.” Mondo didn’t even wait a full second before replying in a deadpan voice. Years of being around people who lied all the time was excellent training for learning how to spot them, although in all honesty a reasonably perceptive toddler could figure out that something was amiss. 

Ishimaru winced. “Please do not use such abrasive language, Oowada-kun.”

“Hey” he shrugged. “I live how I want.”

“Not in a school environment you don’t.” Ishimaru stood up, looking his classmate in the eye. He really wasn’t feeling up for this argument, but he could tell that it was coming anyways. Duty was calling, and Ishimaru always answered. 

Mondo sneered at him. “Do you wanna go, punk?”

“I am not a punk!” Kiyotaka’s voice was starting to escalate, genuine anger radiating from him. He wasn’t a genius, or a punk, or his grandfather, or someone like Mondo.

“If you’re telling me what to do, then you’re a punk.” Mondo was grinding his teeth now, and Ishimaru was reminded of when those thugs used to do that. Always. Before the hit, there was that tightening of the jaw, and the grinding of the teeth, and then the hit. Usually to the gut.

The smaller of the two grimaced and shut his eyes, lost in the memory. “Please.” He managed to squeak out.

Mondo leaned in closer. “Eh? What was that?”

“P-P-Please don’t hit me!” Ishimaru ground out, the sentence bitter in his mouth.

Mondo was taken aback, not sure how to respond to this kid. “Whaddya mean ‘Please don’t hit me’ I wasn’t gonna hit ya unless ya wanted to go. Which ya clearly don’t. Well probaby. I mean, I hit Naegi, but he was really getting on my nerves.”

Ishimaru opened his eyes in a panic, terrified by the information he just gave away.

“Please ignore that last statement. It was a habit.” Ishimaru opened his door, now totally uncomfortable.

He slammed the door, completely unaware that a certain slip of paper had fallen out of his pocket, leaving Mondo to wonder what conditions you had to live in for that phrase to become a habit.

Mondo Oowada was not sure what to do with the new information. First, the kid had been a crying mess, then he was trying to boss him around, and then, he was spouting nonsense. After that, he tried to dismiss the whole conversation, and walk away. But he dropped the slip, and...

Mondo knew that he should just give it back to the kid, but his curiosity got the better of him. He flipped it over, and started to get angry.

It made sense, even to Mondo. He was no stranger to people messing things up for themselves, but to be born into the shame of a family member’s actions... His heart went out to the kid, and against every shred of common sense, Mondo Oowada knocked on Kiyotaka’s door.

The fact that said kid answered surprised him.

Mondo stood there rather awkwardly, because he hadn’t thought of anything to say before he arrived. He could sense that the smaller boy was tense, but it didn’t really seem to matter. Mondo didn’t know why, but he wanted this boy to feel better. Like he was worth something. Both of them stood like that, silent, Mondo sending out all available comfort to Kiyotaka telepathically. 

Ishimaru’s eyes moved to the paper in Mondo’s hand, and his eyes widened in a mixture of shock and horror. Eventually, he broke the silence. “An explanation is probably in order.” He started to move in the direction of the sauna.

Mondo was a little taken aback, because Kiyotaka didn’t owe him anything, but he went  off in the direction of the bathhouse nonetheless. The boys went off to the sauna together, to say what one of them felt needed to be said.

It turns out the two had more in common than they thought. Both of them had felt loss, and had to pick up the pieces of their families. Mondo was more hardworking than Ishimaru had given him credit for, and Ishimaru was more relaxed than Mondo had first thought. He just didn’t like lazy people.

“When I was little, my father taught me to be hardworking, and to bring home excellent grades, and to treat people well. If I didn’t, the family name would suffer. At school, people punished me, and I accepted my punishment. I didn’t learn until later that that was not the way to punish children, especially not for crimes that weren’t their own.” Kiyotaka told Mondo of his struggle, and how he had learned to hide the bruises, and Mondo waited patiently until he was finished.

“If I ever meet people from your old school...” Mondo ground his teeth together, stopping immediately when he saw that it was putting Kiyotaka on edge. “Sorry, Kiyo. I just think you deserve a whole lot better than that. Kids shouldn’t gang up on others unless the kid did stuff himself. Ever.”

“It’s fine, Oowa- Mondo. I just figured that you deserved an explanation.”

Mondo looked away, and at first, Kiyotaka thought he did something wrong. “Mondo? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just... I know your secret, but you don’t know mine.”

“I’m fine with that. You will tell me when you are ready, and when you do I will listen and comfort you accordingly.” Kiyotaka was determined in this. He would not push his... friend? No. Brother. He would not push his brother into telling him something he did not need to know.

“Yeah... But still. You deserve to know. I. I-I. Ugh. I... Ididsomethingdumbandmybrogothurt.”

“Um... Come again?”

“I... well, I hurt my brother.” Mondo seemed to drag the words out of himself.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru was a passionate man. He cared about many things, and when he met people he made an impression. He also cared about people, even if they didn’t return the sentiment. So even when he saw this punk, who had walked into this godless school sporting a biker jacket and a ridiculous pompadour, he had already been willing to protect him. This proved it.

Kiyotaka moved over next to Mondo, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Is that so.”

And so, Mondo began to tell the tale of Diaya Oowada. How his brother had gotten hurt so that Mondo would be fine.

Ishimaru listened, and when Mondo was done, he comforted him. “I don’t think your brother would want you to be sad, though. I think that he wants you to forgive yourself.”

The use of present tense didn’t seem to escape Mondo. “Well, it doesn’t change the fact that he got injured, and that it was my fault!”

“That’s just it, brother, it wasn’t your fault!” Kiyotaka wanted to comfort Mondo, and he hadn’t even noticed what he’d said.

“Did you just... call me brother?” Mondo looked confused, and Kiyo blushed.

“AH! I didn’t mean to! Please excuse me!” Ishimaru tried to stand up, ready to get out of the sauna, but he moved too quickly and burned his skin. After a few more seconds, he passed out, and hit his face on the sauna floor, and his nose started to bleed.

“KIYO! I’ve gotcha! Don’t die on me now!” Mondo yelled, but Ishimaru barely heard the yelling over the sound of blood pounding in his ears.

When Kiyotaka woke up, he didn’t expect to be in his room, or to have Mondo Oowada at his side. But, nonetheless, when he woke up, there he was.

Mondo replied, his voice nonchalant but belied with tension. “Hey. You’re finally awake.”

Ishimaru shook his head, still a little confused. “I am sorry to inconvenience you. How long was I unconscious?” 

“About an hour. You passed out in the sauna after calling me brother.” Mondo looked nonchalant, but Kiyotaka could tell he was curious.

Ishimaru frowned at the memory. “Yes. I am sorry. I just... I grew up an only child, so I always wanted a sibling. I didn’t really have friends either, so I guess I sort of mentally thought of you as a brother? Anyways, ignore that. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get some sleep.”

Mondo chuckled. “I mean you just got some, but okay. And don’t worry about the brother thing, bro.”

Ishimaru’s eyes widened slightly, but he smiled widely at Mondo. 

Mondo did dismiss himself, but not before giving Ishimaru a final pat on the back, and a reminder to take it easy.


	2. Celestia Ludenberg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is the promised Celestia Chapter! This isn't a really deep or triggering chapter, but here you go. I want to do either Sakura or Asahina next. In the notes at the end, the note at the bottom contains an epilogue, (some chapters will). This contains usually a paragraph that takes place after the actual chapter. They will be labeled for your convenience.

_**You lost everything on a bet.** _

Celestia Ludenberg was horrified. Of course, she was good at not showing it, and to everyone else she appeared normal, but inside she was facing major turmoil. If the others found out, her reputation would be ruined.

She had made many a bet in her life, and one in particular had ended rather poorly. As she stood there, holding the slip in her hand, she felt herself slip into a particular memory, and not a pleasant one either, with no physical indication that she wasn’t there, in that gymnasium, but lost into the past.

 

A girl is sitting on an elaborate throne, Her hair is long, and twisted in black pigtails, just like it is in today. She is in a frilly dress, and looks to be a princess herself, ruling a kingdom of lies. Yes, that’s about right. She is the Queen of the Liars. She takes a sip of tea, and rolls a set of die. Ivory and ebony, just like her.

“I bet correctly again.” The girl smiles, a brief upturn of the lips. It is as sour as her mood.

“That is not a surprise, miss.” There is a boy standing next to her, face pallid and hair in a loose cut that complements his angular face rather well. He is dressed in full butler garb, (however all of it is black), has just entered the scene, carrying a cup on a silver tray. The cup has tea, (a black, milk tea, and the only kind that she will drink).

She smirks in return. “Thank you for that, Lucian.” Her voice is double edged, and she is just as sharp as she lets on.

The boy, Lucian, simply nods.

Her castle is poorly lit, relying almost entirely on candlelight. It is stony and cold, and covered in thick rugs in dark colors. Evergreen, maroon, deep sapphire. There are gold and silver embellishments everywhere. This place is truly fit for royalty. The girl smiles, but only one corner of her mouth turns up, and the effect is something akin to a snake, right before it devours its prey. This is her dream, and she has nearly enough to realize it.

A few more butlers, and her harem will be complete. She has millions of yen stashed away. She is thinking that seven is an appropriate number to amass. One for each of the deadly sins. Lucian shall be pride, she thinks. The leader of them all.

“Lucian. I fancy a good gamble. Contact my usual circle.”

“Very well mistress. Any particular method?”

“Hm. Cards is appropriate, I think.”

The butler brings her her deck.

“How about a game of ‘Rich Man, Poor Man’” She suggests.

He nods, and brings a series of wooden stools, and contacts her usual circle. They arrive within the hour.

“So,” One of the gamblers, a clinically obese man in a fine suit begins, “How much exactly are we betting?”  
The girl muses it over for a moment, and decides on an obscenely large figure. It is nearly three quarters of her savings. If she wins, she will have surpassed her goal, but if she loses... No. She is the Super High School Level Gambler, (though she does not yet have that title. She is four years too young for that).

Besides, how could she lose? She has won underground tournaments without knowing the rules, and won at Mah-jong Russian Roulette. A trivial card game had would be a breeze. Besides, her goal was within her grasp, and if she was able to reach it... Yes, that was the spirit.

It is a long round, and against her winning streak, she loses. No one knows how, (her luck has been a constant her entire life, she has never lost, not until now). Her fury increasing with each hand, she eventually loses everything. She is angry, and she lets the others know. Even the winner of most of her fortune looked terrified.

She yells, in a rage, something that they have never seen her do, and for a moment, they wonder if she is faking it. Then, the storm passes, and the girl slumps in her seat, defeated.

She has lost almost everything on a silly, silly whim. Yes, she still has enough to live comfortably, but she was going to have to get rid of the butler. And maybe the castle, although that castle hadn't really cost her all that much to begin with, and she had used part of her vast fortune to do many of the necessary repairs.

“Lucian.” She snaps, clearly irate, both with her loss, and it’s aftermath.

“Yes, mistress?” He responds, clearly slightly amused by her outburst.

“Escort them out. Now.” Her voice is cold and sharp.

“As you wish.” Lucian says, and he begins to lead the other gamblers out of the room.

 

After everyone has left, the girl speaks again, slightly calmed.

“I want you to take care of the financial matters. You have a few more weeks of service, until our contract runs out, so I suggest you fire up your resume. However, I want my affairs in order before you leave.” Her voice resumes its regular calm, and the butler still smiles.

“You make it sound like you’re going to die, miss.” Lucian says.

“Only my dream, Lucian. It’s not dead, the dream. Just... on hold. And I don’t pay you to be snarky, you’d do well to remember that.” The girl quips back at the butler who dared to give her sass.

“Yes, Mistress. I suppose you don’t.” Lucian says, still appearing amused.

She smirks, and then begins to laugh. Slowly at first, a deep laugh, but slowly it rises with insanity, becoming shrill as it tears itself out of her throat.

“Your tea has grown cold, Mistress. I will fetch you some warm tea.” Lucian exits the room.

“Oh, and before you leave, set out my team, one member on each of these men. Leave no witnesses.”

Lucian only nods.

She has lost her finances. Granted, her luck was immense, and she could probably win it all back in no time, but the fact remained that for the first time in her life, she had lost. She could have the men assassinated, sure, but the money would have already been diverted into their wills, and none of it would return to her anyways.

The girl sees that she has lost everything. Her greed was her downfall, and she gets a vague feeling that this is not that last time that she will feel this... despair.

 

The girl, Miss Celestia Ludenberg, snaps back to the present with only a few blinks to signify that she had ever left. If this information were to get out... She’d lose her reputation, and some of her influence. She wondered if all of the secrets were this awful, and damaging.

“My my,” she whispers, “It looks like the game is heating up.”

She smiles, and calmly walks out of the gymnasium, leaving the others behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Celestia's chapter: So yeah hopefully this one is more in character than the last one. Please continue to review! By the way, I wanted to include a tiny epilogue, (this is not officially part of the chapter), that describes her feelings at the chapter three trial.
> 
> She was right. It was not the last time that she would feel despair. Yes, this is the second time in her entire life, (Not that it would be long, she now knew), that she had lost a bet. It was fitting, that she had made a careless gamble once again and lost. This time, though, she wasn't going to be able to win her fortune back.


	3. Aoi Asahina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Asahina's Chapter. Sakura's chapter is next, (sorry about the cliffhanger, but I wanted to connect their stories). Also, I will refer to Asahina by her last name, which breaks my pattern a bit, but I liked Asahina better.

_**You aren’t straight, but then again you aren’t gay either.** _

 

Aoi Asahina was really only a little bit scared, and most of her fear was dedicated to the career implications of her secret. . Her face made her look infinitely more worried than she was. Sure, she was bisexual, but if she had to, it was something she could hide. It was something that she had to hide in order to seem “normal.”

A bisexual swimmer for the Olympics? Unheard of. And so Asahina knew that she’s had to keep her secret under wraps, if only for her career.

She hurried out of the gymnasium, and off to the kitchen. A doughnut would calm her down, right? Yeah. A doughnut sounded nice.

So she sat in the kitchen, munching on a doughnut, (she had to admit that they weren’t bad). She was thinking, mostly about how yeah, her secret would affect her career, but surely it wasn’t worth killing anyone over... Right?

She was startled out of her internal dilemma when she heard someone walk into the kitchen. When she saw that is was Sakura, she almost cried tears of relief.

“Hi  Sakura.” Asahina said, smiling, but it was still forced.

Sakura nodded, and replied with a gruff “Hello, Asahina-chan”

Sakura bustled around the kitchen, preparing her regular protein shake.

“Hey, Sakura?” Asahina asked.

“Hm?”

“Hey... You know those secrets?” Asahina knew that Sakura understood the meaning behind her words. Her friend nodded.

Asahina pulled her hair out of it’s usual ponytail, and re did it, and then began to fiddle with the hem of her jacket. “I’m not the only one who knows mine.” she choked out, struggling to form the words. The confession was hard, even to the girl who was she knew was her friend.

“Hm. I suppose that is true of nearly everyone though.” Sakura said thoughtfully after a few moments.

Asahina giggled nervously. “I guess so.” Asahina replied, and let the silence deaden, and grow to fill the room. The only sounds were the sound of the large refrigerators, churning away in the background.

“So,” Sakura began, breaking that admittedly awkward silence. “Who else knows?”

“Um, My brother, and this one girl from back home.” Asahina said, remembering how she came out to her brother. Yuta had been nothing short of accepting, and sharing with his sister that he wasn’t sure if he was straight either. It had been an emotional day, and Asahina had loved her brother all the more for it.

“My brother’s name is Yuta. He’s... he’s a really nice kid.” Asahina hoped he was okay, back there, in the world, without her.

“How about the girl then?” Sakura asked, listening intently.

“Well... Her name was Midori, and she and I were close friends. Actually, we were... more than friends.” Asahina ground the words out painfully toward the end.

To her credit, Sakura did not seem visibly disturbed by the words, and the meaning behind them. “Do you date women... exclusively?” Sakura said at last.

“No.” Asahina’s reply came quickly, a single exhale of a breath she hadn’t noticed she’d been holding. “No, I sort of date both?” Her voice quirked up at the end like she’d asked a question.

Sakura nodded. “Ah. Good to know.”

“That’s it?” the words left Asahina’s mouth before she could stop them.

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you going to tell me that this kind of thing could prevent me from competing? That it’s not right or something?” Asahina wasn’t angry, quite the contrary in fact. It seemed that her friend accepted her, (Which she had hoped for, but with another sports player, she could never be sure), but Asahina had to make sure before she let her guard down.

“Why would it be wrong? I know that some sports competitions would have an issue, but I do not, if that is what you’re asking.” Sakura had a way with words that never ceased to comfort Asahina.

“Are you sure?” Asahina asked, her eyes beginning to shine with tears.

“Yes, I am sure.” Sakura said, before grabbing a few tissues for her friend.

Asahina didn’t say anything, but she wordlessly accepted the tissues, and began to wipe her eyes, which were leaking tears.

Sakura wrapped her in a hug, until suddenly Asahina pulled away, looking stunned. “I never told you the story though!”

“What story?” Sakura asked, eyebrows raised.

“You know. Me and Midori?” Asahina took a deep breath, bracing herself. “Back when we were in middle school, there was this girl, Midori, on the track and field team with me. We were friends, but one day, she started to act... weird around me. When I asked her about it, she told me she had a crush on me, and so I said I was willing to give a relationship a try, and so we dated.”

Sakura only nodded, face neutral, and eyes as intense as always.

“So yeah. I mean it wasn't love or anything, but I suppose it was fun. I found out she was just into girls, too. It was great for a few months, but then... she broke up with me. She said I was too “masculine” for her. She was the first, and the only. After middle school, I found out I was accepted here, I decided it was time for a new life! So, here I am. And like, I still think both genders look amazing, and the whole no hetero thing isn't an issue for me, so...” Asahina trailed off, smiling wistfully, and Sakura gave a small snort of laughter.

“Huh? What is it?” Asahina asked, pouting.

“You were smiling so sadly. It doesn’t suit you.” Sakura said with a smile.

“Hm.” Asahina pretended to think it over, and nodded. “Yeah!” She pulled the larger girl into a hug stronger than her small form suggested was possible.

“Speaking of secrets...” Sakura ventured hesitantly.

“Yeah?” Asahina said, ready to listen to her friend.”

“I have one of my own to tell you.”


	4. Sakura Oogami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alas! The long awaited Sakura chapter is here. I am terribly sorry about my updating and lack thereof, and my defense is the dreaded midterms. Enjoy, and I have no idea who I'm doing next, but you are welcome to ask and suggest secrets because I'm sort of on the fence about the rest of the characters.

_You selfishly became a double agent to protect your shrine_

 

Sakura Oogami knew when she saw the stupid paper that she could not tell anyone. Her face was stony and yet just as neutral as always. Sakura crumpled the paper and headed to the kitchen to make herself a protein shake, (the only thing that would help calm her for real).

She made it to the kitchen, and saw Asahina sitting on a stool, munching on a doughnut, which wasn’t surprising for her. Sakura didn't know why she _hadn't_ counted on her friend being there. 

Sakura greeted her friend, and the two of them spoke, the conversation heavy and full of implications and connotations. Sakura watched her friend open up, and tell her of a relationship with another woman, which could jeopardize her sports career, but other than that wouldn’t cause any issues. Sakura herself was fine with it, and was proud of her friend for telling her.

She watched as her friend shared her secret, a secret that she could, technically, kill someone to keep hidden, and in a split second Sakura made a choice.

“Speaking of secrets...” Sakura trailed off, not entirely sure how to handle this. She didn't speak much, and when she did, it usually wasn't such heavy material.

“Yeah?” Asahina said, shifting a bit so that she was in a better position to listen to her friend.

“I have one of my own to tell you.” Sakura breathed deeply, to keep herself calm. No, she would not tell her real secret, but instead, a different one. One that was not in any way shape or form worth killing over, but a secret nonetheless. “I too have had an experience in a relationship.”

Sakura let that sink in, and she saw Asahina’s eyes widen, and her mouth open a little, before forming a smile. “~Oooohhhh” Asahina's eyes sparkled mischievously, and Sakura almost blushed. Almost.

“His name is Kenshiro. We were great friends and training partners before entering a romantic relationship. He was the only one I could never beat.”

Asahina gasped. “Someone who could beat _you_? Tell me more about this guy.”

“Actually, I am not the strongest person in the world. My "secret", for lack of a better word, is that I did not earn my title. It was lent to me by another, and someday I will have to renounce it.”

Asahina cocked her head to the side. “Really? I think that you are. The strongest person in the world.” She tackled her friend into another hug, and Sakura accepted. It was hard, lying, (or in her case, really more just not telling the truth), and she found it a bit hard to stomach.

“He... he suffers from a terminal illness. He was given only six months to live.” Sakura was genuinely sad, and sometimes she wondered where he was now.

Asahina sobered at the news. “So wait... did he?”

“Yes. He gave me the title to hold on to in his absence.”

Asahina nodded. “Sakura-chan that’s so sad. Don’t worry, though! I think you’re plenty strong, and I’m sure Kunchito will be happy to see you when we get out of this school!”

Sakura didn’t bother correcting her friend, instead choosing to smile and brush it off. Sakura wanted to fight this contract she’d been bound into, and hated both the thoughts of her classmates dying over something so trivial, and yet. She didn’t want to kill anyone herself. Yes. If she had to, she could always kill herself. 

After saying goodbye to Asahina, she went back to her room and tried to sleep, hoping to figure it out the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another epilogue type thing for Sakura:  
> When the fourth motive was revealed, and it suddenly became unavoidable. Her real secret would some to light no matter what she did. And so, when she drank from that bottle of toxin, she said goodbye to everyone. To her father, the dojo... but mostly to Kenshiro, and to Aoi Asahina, a girl she trusted literally with her life.


	5. Kyouko Kirigiri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am horrible. I literally have not updated in a month, and I am so, so sorry, but here is Kyouko's chapter. I wasn't sure where to go with this one, but hey. Enjoy.

_**Your hands hold the clues to who you really are.** _

__

Kyouko Kirigiri was surprised, but you never would have guessed it from her facial expression. In fact, the only real suggestion that she had just felt a major shock was a minute narrowing of her eyes, but even that was only there for a second. Anyone else would have thought it was a dream.

She heard the gasps and whispers of horror around her, and she could feel the thick tension in the room, but she remained calm.

After a few moments of thoughtful contemplation, she left the gymnasium. She wasn’t the first.

She walked to her room, shutting and locking the door before laying down on her bed, and staring at the ceiling. She removed the the silky black gloves with care, and frowned at the hands beneath them.

The hideous scars remained, even though her memories didn’t. She didn’t know who she was, or even what her talent was.

“I suppose that gives me an advantage.” she mumbled, quietly talking to herself. “I know everyone, but no one knows me.”

She felt the deja vu, but she didn;t know why, and that bothered her.

Why was her amnesia worse than everyone elses?

It didn’t matter.

She fell asleep, thinking of all of the possibilities, and she couldn’t understand why she felt so guilty.

 

* * *

 

When she woke, it was to the obnoxious rapping of knuckles on her door.

“Kirigiri Kyouko-san” Ishimaru’s obnoxiously loud voice blasted through everything, and she mentally groaned at the semi-abrasive sound. “It is time for all of us to meet at the cafeteria for breakfast. Please join us within ten minutes!”

She heard a squeaking of boots on tile as Ishimaru marched away, and she flipped over in bed. She had worn her day clothes to sleep, but they weren’t two rumpled, so she sat up, and began to brush her hair, tying it back in its usual style. She also brushed her teeth, and tried to smooth the few wrinkles out of her outfit, and sighed deeply, before leaving the room.

Kyouko walked down to the cafeteria, heels clacking on the vibrant tile, until she reached the cafeteria. It was silent, and the tension could be cut with a knife. Everyone was there except for Celestia and Togami. Everyone else was fidgety and silent. Kyouko sat down next to Naegi, and sat there waiting.

Eventually, Togami and Celestia strolled in together, (much to the annoyance of one Touko Fukawa), and breakfast began in earnest. Kyouko grabbed a bagel, and a cup of black coffee, relishing the familiar taste.

“So,” Naegi began, trying to stir up conversation, “did everyone sleep well?”

“I slept splendidly”, came the drawling voice of Byakuya.

“I-I didn’t” Touko replied in a hushed tone. She followed it up with a mumbled, “not like any of you care.”

Several other people shared, with varying degrees of cheerfulness. Kyouko simply listened, and watched, keeping track of this information. After Sayaka’s murder, no one could be too careful.

The rest of breakfast passed in silence, and everyone went their separate ways. Asahina and Sakura to the pool, Byakuya to the library, (with Touko close behind him), and Ishimaru, Mondo, and Chihiro walking off, listening to Ishimaru loudly prattling on about something or another.

All of them left, until it was just her and Naegi left.

“Kirigiri-san?” Naegi’s voice was quiet.

“Hhm? Yes, Naegi?” She turned to face him.

“Um... we’re the only ones left. Everyone else is gone.”

“I am aware.” Her voice wasn’t cold, or irate, just neutral. Dead. Emotionless.

“Oh. Okay. Why do you like to be alone so much, Kirigiri-san?”

“I don’t...” she trailed off. She supposed that she did like to be alone. “I guess it’s simpler that way.”

“Simpler?” His full attention was on her now, and she was shocked by how easily his emotions showed on his face. She, by contrast, was a veritable statue. She could see tension and worry in his face, and she could almost feel what he felt.

“Yes. This way, I can acess my thoughts, without any distractions.” Kyouko wondered where this could possibly be going.

“Heh. We must just be distractions to you, Kirigiri-san.” Naegi chuckled, but his expression was wistful. “You don’t speak much.”

Kyouko was silent.

“Since you’re so quiet, can I just talk? You can listen if you want, and you don’t have to, but I really just need...” Naegi trailed off, and his vivacious, olive colored eyes met her emotionless violet ones.

“You may.” This was an excellent opportunity to learn about her classmate, just a classmate, nothing more, this was a strictly educational experience, she didn’t want to be his friend, just know information for future trials, and-

“Okay.”

The simple words were enough to derail her train of thought, and she was grateful. It was heading into dangerous territory.

“I think I had a crush on Sayaka. It wasn’t a thing I was going to pursue, but she was so cute, and open, and caring and I think that I really liked her. And then... well, you were there for the trial, clearly it didn’t play out well.”

“That was through no fault of your own.” She could see where this was going. Survivors guilt was the term that she was looking for.

“Wow, you’re perceptive, but I have to disagree.” Naegi looked worn, like a man many times his age.

“Why do you say so. She tried to frame you, to kill you. It backfired, and she only had herself to blame. She manipulated you. No, she’s still manipulating you. Even in death.” Kyouko shared the deduction as clearly as she could, trying to be sensitive of Naegi’s feelings, but she didn’t really know him well enough to know if he would ever move on from this.

“Kirigiri-san” It is a hushed whisper, and she can see him process the information she has just laid before him.

“I-I think you’re right. But it still feels wrong to hold it against her...” He trailed off again, and faced away from Kyouko.

“Was that your secret?” The curiosity was eating at her, and she wanted to know.

At first Naegi looked at her blankly, but then began to chuckle, with the laugh escalating, until he was wiping tears out of his eyes. Kyouko blanched slightly, surprised by the somewhat sudden response. The reaction was out of sight before he saw it.

“No, no that wasn’t my secret. My real secret’s pretty embarrassing, actually.” The small boy blushed, and looked away.

“Oh.”

“I don’t even know why I’m doing this, but... do you promise.... just... If I tell you my secret, you won’t tell anyone, will you?” Naegi was sputtering, and clearly uncomfortable, but Kyouko was curious.

“You are the only one who really speaks to me. Who would I tell?”

“Point taken. Oh wow, I, I haven’t told anyone this. Let’s see. I um, well, I used to, um, I used to wet the bed until I was in fifth grade!”

He clenched his fists and looked downward.

Kirigiri was stunned. This was the deepest, darkest secret Monokuma could drag out of this kid? She was expecting something like him having killed a man, or robbing a bank. He was super high school level luck after all. The thought was enough to make her crack a smile.

Naegi looked up at her, face flushed, but his eyes widened when he saw her face. “Kirigiri-san? You’re smiling... You’re smiling!” He broke out a smile to match hers.

Her grin immediately melted back into her usual neutral expression, but that glimpse was enough to satisfy Naegi. He thanked her for listening, and then went off. Something about visiting Maizono’s room.

As soon as he left, she lost herself in thought. She had let her emotionless exterior slip. She did not know the game that she was playing, having forgotten the rules. This game, though, was one that could cost her her life. She would have to be more careful. She could not let secrets slip, especially ones she didn't know herself. 


	6. Byakuya Togami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow no chapter for a month and suddenly two chapters in a week? What can I say, I write when I can. This is the much awaited Togami chapter, and it was way more fun to write than it should have been. Comments are always welcome. I'm thinking Hagakure will probably be next.

_**You’ve killed friends, foe, and siblings alike to earn your title.** _

__

Byakuya Togami wasn’t particularly worried. Most of his shock came from the fact that this stupid monochrome bear knew. He wondered just how good the bear’s information was, and if there was a way to tap into all of it.

But surely that wasn’t all. The bear couldn’t be that mastermind. That would be too far too simple. Someone else had to be pulling the strings, there was someone who was the mastermind. Otherwise, this game would be a trivial, disappointing, let down. Especially compared to some of the other ones he’d played.

His family had been like this. A letdown. None of them were worthy, none could match his intellect, appearance, athleticism, and monetary worth.

Actually, that statement wasn’t entirely correct. As the blond heir walked back to his room, he frowned, (read: looked like usual), and pondered his relations with his family.

His mother and father had never been close to him, both extremely talented people. With talent, came work, and with work, time was occupied, so he had never felt any real attachment to either of his parents. He supposed he was short changing his siblings, though. They weren’t worthless. By commoner standards, each was rather important. He didn’t know all of them personally, but a few had been worth keeping tabs on, of the fifteen.

 

His sister, Katherine, was a beautiful redhead actress, who could sing like an angel, (the one thing he couldn’t do), and dance like she was born on her feet. He remembered her caring for him, bandaging his injuries, and singing him to sleep, even though she didn’t stand to gain much of anything by helping him, as he could literally stab her in the back whenever he wanted. It wouldn’t have even been hard. By the time he was six, he was able to kill a man at least three different ways with a drinking straw.

But regardless, she had loved him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was the runt of the litter, maybe it had something to do with the fact that no one really viewed his condescending, bratty self as a threat.

He remembered the night one of his other siblings, Winston, decided that he was going to win at any cost. Byakuya was with her, in one of her hotel rooms, congratulating her on a flawless stage performance. The two were laughing, smiling, and joking around. She had even had a glass of champagne.

He had complimented her for the umpteenth time, when the window shattered. The small boy slid under the bed, trembling. He heard a voice, and Katherine sobbing, and he wanted nothing more than to go out and comfort her, but he froze. He was physically unable to move, and he heard footsteps as a man walked into the room. He could hear a deep voice, speaking to her.

“Darling sister. Most excellent performance tonight. I commend you on your lovely soprano.” His voice was rich, and laced with seduction, and a quality that could only be described as greed.

“Winston.” His sister spat the word, and never in his life had the child heard her voice so full of hatred.

“Yes, your favorite sibling, I’m sure. Except for that brat.” Winston’s voice morphed from arrogance to snarling.

“His name is Byakuya. And if you are here to do what I know you are here to do, then you are out of luck. He is not here.” His sister told the lie flawlessly, and he wondered if that was a by-product of years of acting.

“Liar. At any rate, he is the runt. Never has the runt won, and never will the runt win. I, on the other hand, am different.”

“No. You are just another soulless child, devoid of love and caring, and instead being led like an animal to slaughter by the family you wish to please. You. Are. Not. Special.” His sister was enraged, and he could hear her voice through her sobs. Near silent, and deadly. Katherine had saved his life by trying to deny his presence, and his stomach dropped because he knew that right here and now, he would watch her pay the ultimate price.

“NO! YOU’RE WRONG! I AM SPECIAL, AND I WILL LEAD THIS FAMILY.”

His sister didn’t get a chance to respond, as the small boy heard the sound of bullets ripping through her. He didn’t even get the chance to scream, as he heard bone crunch, and blood burst from his loving sister.

“Hhmph.” Byakuya heard his brother walk away, crunching his heels on the glass.

The small heir never forgot Katherine.

 

And so, it was no surprise that on the night Byakuya Togami confronted Winston, the Sixth eldest, whose blood type was AB- and whose mother was a CEO of a major company, it was not a pretty sight. The blond boy, who was once an innocent blond child, who would not have looked out of place in a preschool, now stood over his brother, menacing even at the age of twelve.

“Well, Brother mine. We meet again.” Togami held the knife at his brother’s throat, pressing into the vile man’s jugular.

“B-B-Byakuya?” His brother’s voice conveyed his pure terror.

“I’m sure you know this, but we are the only two left. I shipped Zwei to a prison camp, and sent Elaine on a permanent trip to the bottom of the sea. Ezra was killed in a tragic car accident, and his twin, Josiah, was it? Well, he died in his brother’s arms. You took out the rest of them for me. I had my men take out all of your forces, and I slit the throats of both of your guards.”

“Tch. What was the point of the body count, then?”

“That you should have seen this day coming. Oh, and also to get better security.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance. I don’t know you well, but I know that you will never let me leave this room alive.” Winston was shaking, and if he kept moving like this he could very well end up slitting his own throat.

“Correct, human filth. I saved you for last, after what you did to Catherine. And so, I’m going to pay you back, and make sure you feel all of the agony she felt, and I will pay with interest.” The heir’s mouth quirked up, and he pulled the knife away from his brother’s throat, before hacking and slashing at will, laughing as the man’s blood stained his suit.

When the job was done, his brother was bleeding out on the ground, and Byakuya was panting heavily. “Arrivederci, scum.”

 

“Sama. Kuya-sama? Byakuya-sama? Are you alright?” The worried voice of Touko Fukawa jolted him out of his thoughts.

“Why would you ask such a stupid question? Of course I’m alright.” The heir gave an expression of disgust at the introverted author.

“B-Because you were standing in the hallway for a while, and muttering to yourself, and looking scared.”

“The Chosen Heir looking scared? What a laugh.” He brushed her aside and continued walking. He didn’t realize until he got to his apartment that tears were streaming down his face.

 

 


	7. Yasuhiro Hagakure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is the Hagakure Chapter. One more until I finish This. For those of you who follow this story devoutly, thank you so much. Also, I have to completely Redo the Ishimaru Chapter. I think I'm gonna change his secret to something more canon, and put that prompt somewhere else. Without further ado... Yasuhiro Hagakure's secret!

_**You’re on the run from both the law and the gangs.** _

 

Yasuhiro Hagakure was in a state of panic. It was true, all of it. Those stupid items had cost him, both in terms of money, and peace of mind.

This secret was supposed to convince him to kill someone, though, and the dilemma lay in the fact the he wanted to keep this hidden. He was no stranger to the occult, as much as he detested it, so he knew that the bear had his ways of getting information. But that wasn’t important now, not with his reputation, and even his life on the line. And not just his life. He was dealing with trained killers, who probably weren’t too picky with collateral damage. Yasuhiro didn’t want to risk his mother’s safety for anything, but he also wanted to keep his collection safe.

Those items were of high value, and he remembered purchasing lots of the relics lost to the world. What the museums had were fake, (at least that's what he told himself.

When he had entered the school, he had been relieved, to get away from the police, and the gangs, and knowing that they probably wouldn’t target his mother.

However, with the whole running away business, a lot of absences followed, and even his talent couldn’t overcompensate for his lack of an education.

The tanned boy left the gymnasium, and began wandering the hallways somewhat aimlessly.

As he was walking, he passed Touko, who was muttering something about blood, and Celeste, smiling smugly to herself, Yamada lurking behind her, and looking so disgusted with himself that Yasuhiro almost felt bad for him.

To kill some time, he headed down to the pool. Surprisingly, Asahina and Sakura weren’t there, but he decided to stay anyways.

He took off his sandals, and dangled his feet at the edge, swirling them around and making patterns out of the ripples, thinking back to a time where he did the same thing, but at his public pool.

 

His mother had taken him there, but she had left the area to smoke. He was six, and he knew better, but he still wanted her to  be with him. Since he had no friends, he became a bit of a momma’s boy, especially since his dad died not long after he was born.

His feet were smaller then, and and his face was still soft with baby fat. His hair was eccentric, but shorter and more manageable. He wore olive swim trunks, but since he didn’t know how to swim, he stayed of the water.

Suddenly, a vision hit. He saw his mother getting both of them ice cream. Her’s was strawberry, and his was chocolate. He was running, but then he slipped and fell, and the cone managed to land on his head.

The moment passed, though, and it left the small boy staring at the pool, where his legs had long since stopped moving. It wasn’t all that difficult to imagine the situation, but for some reason, he still expected it to happen.

At that moment, his mother walked back over. “Hiro, it’s time to go. We... we have to leave. But we can get ice cream. Would you like that?”

The boy simply nodded. His mother walked him to the car, and let him buckle himself into the passenger’s seat.

They drove to the ice cream parlor, and lo and behold, she ordered a strawberry ice cream, and he got a chocolate cone. He also tripped on the sidewalk, and dropped it on his head. “Mom?” The small boy asked, as she wiped the rapidly melting desert out of his hair.

“Yeah, Hiro?”

“I saw this before it happened.”

“Really?” The sound of crinkling napkins against his hair stopped, and his mom pulled his face level with his.

“Yeah.”

She smiled, and winked at him. “My Hiro’s a psychic! Let me know if you see any other stuff, okay?”

 

He reflected on how important his mother had been growing up. They were all each other had, after all. He smiled as he thought of her face. He made a promise to himself. If he ever made it out of this school, he’d sell those items, get the gangs off his tail, and live out the rest of his days making sure that he and his mother could live with each other for the rest of their days.

 

 


	8. Hifumi Yamada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took so long, but between school, and the fact that I can's stand Hifumi, this chapter took forever.

_**You have been nearly arrested several times on charges relating to child pornography.** _

 

Hifumi Yamada started to shake in fear as he read the worrying strip of paper. He couldn’t deny that it was true, but he was still hoping that no one would find out. The title Super High School Level Doujin creator creator came with some... connotations, but it was never something that had come up in conversation.

He hadn’t been expecting his less than excellent history to come to light.

He tried to resist the urge to shriek and bawl his eyes out, because he wasn’t like that anymore, right? Cringing, because deep down, part of him still was like that, and there wasn’t really anything that could change it, the dark haired boy plodded through the winding corridors of the school.

He decided that it would be best to go back to his room, that way he could freak out, (and break down), in silence.

The door felt cold and heavy against his palm, and he couldn’t fight the anxiety twisting his stomach. He felt the cold, nervous sweat starting to form a sticky layer on his skin, and he groaned inwardly, because he was so disgusting right now, and he hoped that a nap or some sketching would be enough to pull him back together.

He waddled over to the bed, and plopped down on it, and stared at the ceiling, filled with shame and a nagging feeling that sometime soon, he was going to snap. After a few moments, (hours?), of moping to himself, he decided to get up and do some drawing. That had always calmed him down in the past, right?

He sat down at his desk, and stared at the drawings he’d already done, and his beloved Princess Piggles stared back at him, in a variety of poses. Looking at it now, he realized that some of them were rather... questionable, but there was nothing there that he wouldn’t show his mother. After all, it’s not like he’d been explicit or anything.

After grabbing a fresh sheet of paper, and began to sketch. The lines that appeared eventually began to take form, and the image was starting to come together. First, a basic anatomy sketch, of a small girl, in a “typical magical girl position”. Her one hand was over her hips, holding down her poofy skirt, gloved and dainty, and her other hand was in the air, holding a small wand.  She had two long pigtails, and they looked rather like Celestia’s, curled and stiff. She wore thigh high stockings and garters, with mismatches striped and polka dots. Last was her face, and he made it look so childish and innocent, and yet at the same time it was inviting and lewd, and he started to feel like maybe he was still like that.

He stopped mid-stroke, realizing what he’d done, and crumpled the sketch into a ball before tossing it in the trash can, and making a mental note to incinerate it as soon as the stupid machine was fixed.

He tried again, taking a deep breath to calm himself, before starting anew. He did this a few more times before realizing that nothing he did looked... right. No matter what he tried to sketch, all of them turned out looking disturbing and downright nasty. Eventually, he gave up, with a sigh of frustration, and went back to his bed to lie down.

It was almost lights out anyways, and he muttered something to himself about losing track of time.  So, instead of getting changed into pajamas and doing things people normally did before bedtimes, he chose to lay there instead.

But as he lay in bed, he couldn’t help but remember all of the “videos” he’d looked up in search of artistic reference, and he shivered as he remembered that day that the police had shown up at his house. Luckily, Hifumi had always been good at hiding things, but the feeling had still made him sick. He knew that she shouldn’t have taken that commission, or any of the ones that came after that. Not only were his doujin skills famous among the fan community, they made him a rising star in some less-than-superb crowds, and while it had worried him, he had technically let it happen.

Then, when he had gotten his Hope’s Peak acceptance letter, everything looked so much better. He didn’t have to do that kind of anything anymore, (not that he hadn’t enjoyed it a bit, if he was being completely honest). It was kind of a relief, but he still couldn’t remember any of his memories from school.

He wondered if he’d done the same sort of things in his school life. Now, the secrecy and lingering disgust would probably kill him. He just hoped that it wouldn’t be a literal death, but knowing his luck, he could just as well be the next body. Or, the next killer... cringing at that thought, he rolled over and tried to sleep again.

He closed his eyes, but he saw only his own work behind closed lids. He did not like what he saw, but fell to sleep riddled with truly horrible dreams.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. I figured something so disgusting would align with this utter scumbag. I really can't relate to his character that well, though, so if you have a better idea for what his secret should be, please let me know so that I can fix this. Please comment, because comments are love, comments are life. Thanks.


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, this fic is pretty much done. I just have to go back and clean up that nighmarish word vomit that was the first chapter, and make it, you know, actually compliant with canon. That's right. This is now canon compliant. I think. If it's not, call me out on it.

_**You’re glad that it isn’t you.** _

It was class trial time again, and even after a thorough investigation, misconceptions filled the air. Byakuya was smirking, and the look on his arrogant face would make anyone want to punch him, but even underneath the mask was an underlying layer of distress. The only truly passive face was Kyouko’s.

With the exception of one person, all of the remaining students guiltily breathed a sigh of relief, because, hey, this time it wasn’t them. Everyone had loved Chihiro deeply, but it didn’t change the fact that they loved themselves more. No one mentioned this, but they had felt it during Sayaka and Leon’s deaths as well.

Only Mondo Oowada panicked, albeit internally, in the face of what he was about to undergo.

The trial proceeded, as smoothly as these things could ever go, with the usual shouting and breakdowns, lies and misconceptions.

Byakuya ran with his Genocider Syo theory, and suffice it to say, everyone saw a whole new side of the timid and angsty Touko Fukawa. But he was debunked, when the gray-gone-red eyes of the girl flashed mischievously, and she explained that he was wrong, and it could be proved by the sloppy job that he did. He had created something sacrilegious to her work, and she was more than eager to prove him wrong, humiliating him, and exposing the little game that he’d been trying to play. The disgust and fear in the room was palpable, but it faded, turning to a sense of shock when the secret of the victim himself was revealed.

Yes. Himself. Chihiro Fujisaki was designated male at birth, and no one except the killer had known. Even though it made sense, and everything worked in line with the murder, it still shocked the living hell out of everyone in the room, and it showed on their faces.  And yet, Mondo’s pokerface was strong enough to fool them. But even that couldn’t hold forever...

Celestia began to give her testimony once again, and this time, Mondo should have remembered that discretion is the better part of valor. He just had to spill the beans. He as good as sealed his fate when he described the color of Chihiro’s tracksuit. Blue. Mondo Oowada was about to be caught for murder because of a blue tracksuit. It would have been laughable, under different circumstances.

But the final nail in his coffin was his e-handbook, broken in a stupid challenge with his bro. The complete and utter look of defeat on his face was enough to bring down the whole room, only making them feel worse about that fact that if he didn’t die, they all would.

Kiyotaka tried to defend him, fueled on nothing but brotherly love and shock, but even that crumbled to the iron resistance of Naegi Makoto’s reasoning. Everyone had to admit that for an ametuer, a teenager no less, he was pretty sharp when the investigations were on the line. Kiyotaka didn’t stand a chance.

The moral compass broke down, in front of all of them, as his final defense cracked with the evidence that none of them could deny. The tears streamed down his face, his crimson eyes only accentuated by the red of the rims, and his ebony hair mussed where he grabbed at it.

Mondo Oowada, though, the man of the hour, tried his best not to follow his bro’s example. His fists were clenched at his sides, knuckles white as he awaited the vote that could condemn him to some sort of morbidly fascinating execution, all to amuse the capricious and whimsical bear currently slouching in his chair, beady eyes sparkling as he watched the drama go down. He grinned sadistically, and laughed at the situation.

Then, he revealed Mondo’s own secret. Daiya Oowada. When he was alive, he had been Mondo’s birth brother, a brave and gutsy guy who had a strong sibling resemblance, in more than just appearance. He had also loved Mondo more than enough to die for him.

The younger brother himself looked as though he would crumble in shame, but if he had taken it poorly, Kiyotaka was taking it far worse. He was a wreck, piled in a lump at Mondo’s feet, and begging for his brother to be wrong.

When he found that Ishimaru had gone so far as to vote for himself, everyone felt his heartbreak. Some, like Asahina, were nearly in tears with empathy, and others, like Sakura, were less expressive, but the mood was somber.

Mondo Oowada went off in shame, and everyone watched in horror as he was strapped to the bike, and sent off into a macabre circus setting, once again something that would have been laughable under different circumstances. Instead, the seventy-eighth class of Hope’s Peak watched in despair as Mondo was sent into the cage, spinning faster and faster until there was nothing left but... butter?

Regardless, it was a horrible death, not one that should have happened. It was the same with Chihiro. The entire class was upset, but deep among the kernels of hope and despair in their hearts, there was a bit of relief. It wasn’t them this time. _It wasn’t them this time. **It wasn’t them this time**._

Two deaths, all because of a stupid robo-bear, and his dumb pieces of paper that had the power to wreck them, make these teenagers, children, into killers.

* * *

Deep within the disgusting metal compound, disguised as a school, sat a girl with two large pink pigtails, twisted into place with bear shaped ponytail holders. She giggled at the situation, as disgusting as it was. Full of despair, just the way she liked it. As she watched the clips on her monitors, the student’s faces when they’d first discovered their secrets, and scenes from the intense trial that had just taken place.

With a dance of her ruby fingernails, across the multitude of keyboards, she zoomed in on Mondo’s face in particular, right after he revealed himself to be the murderer.

A cat like smile curled across her lips, and she stroked the screen.

“Looks like somebody couldn’t keep a secret.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I've finally finished this. It's been a good run. I hope all of you enjoyed it, and once again please comment honestly good comments are my inspiration, and the only reason I go on writing.


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